Barcelona is underpowered

You don't hear this word a lot in FM community, Thank God. However, I feel like Barcelona is no where near as good as they are IRL.

They don't dominate the league as much as they do IRL. Their front three doesn't combine to get 100+ goals a season like IRL. And they're that too difficult to beat like they are in real life. I just beat them at the Camp Nou 3-1 as Arsenal in the first season! And it was a very even game! AI Bayern beat them 2-1 at the Camp Nou as well, while having 53% of the ball!

It just doesn't feel as satisfying when I beat them because they're not that dominant. Yes they win the league, but not in the same fashion as they do IRL.

I'm not sure how to go about improving them since they already have the best squad in the world. However, if they win the league and the UCL again this year, I sincerely hope that FM12 will be able to represent how dominant they are.

P.S. I didn't have a player sent off against them either

Barca arent unbeatable IRL. If Alex Ferguson wasnt so arrogant, man U would have beaten them for the Champs League title a few seasons ago; and they got that disgusting Spanish/Norwegian ref to throw the semis against Chelsea. They are really good but not overpowering.

I holidayed a game till 2020. They'd won the league all but 2 times in that period, getting nearly 100 points a few times, with Messi and Iniesta being amazing the whole time. I don't think there's an issue.

Barca arent unbeatable IRL. If Alex Ferguson wasnt so arrogant, man U would have beaten them for the Champs League title a few seasons ago; and they got that disgusting Spanish/Norwegian ref to throw the semis against Chelsea. They are really good but not overpowering.

That's not the point. I agree they are very much beatable. However, it doesn't take away from how dominant they have been IRL, and this is not reflected in FM.

I holidayed a game till 2020. They'd won the league all but 2 times in that period, getting nearly 100 points a few times, with Messi and Iniesta being amazing the whole time. I don't think there's an issue.

They win the league too, in my save. However, they don't score as many goals as in IRL, and concede a whole lot more. They're not even that tough to beat in the UCL.

I just feel they should be performing better. Long run games is not a good judge because that doesn't reflect real life. However, the the short-term future should reflect it a bit more. FM Barcelona is simply not that good.

If Alex Ferguson wasnt so arrogant, man U would have beaten them for the Champs League title a few seasons ago;

The arrogance being "kick messi at ever chance you get as he is better than our whole squad put together tactic?" Fergie wasnt arrogant Barca are just better.

The arrogance being "kick messi at ever chance you get as he is better than our whole squad put together tactic?" Fergie wasnt arrogant Barca are just better.

Not in my opinion. Barca was missing 3/4 of their back four. Even a nOOb FM manager like me would understand you would want your best attacking players on the pitch. Yet, where was Tevez? On the bench. Monumental arrogance, in my opinion.

The arrogance being "kick messi at ever chance you get as he is better than our whole squad put together tactic?" Fergie wasnt arrogant Barca are just better.

A squad with Ronaldo, Tevez and their DC's?

The match engine doesn't allow Barca to play like IRL, they can't dominate possession as much in the game. The CA/PA system also prevents Messi being MESSI MESSI MESSI. If they put Messi in the game as he is IRL, he would break the match engine.

Ahh... Fanboys and the Messi myth. Good fun!

Really, Barcelona are fine and Messi is not underpowered. He gets World Player of the Year every single year until he is in his 30s whilst Barcelona dominate everything! They won the Champions League 5 times in a row on my Brisbane save!

It's fine guys, and if you're complaining I think you're just deluded by how good you think they are.

Also, the Messi myth is exactly that, a myth. People say things like: "The database guy for Barcelona says he had to underpower him". First of all, Messi's CA/PA is not 200/200, I know that at least, and secondly he is by far the best player on the planet in the game, if he were any better it would just be silly. He arguably isn't that good in real life. But anyhow, enjoy...

Ahh... Fanboys and the Messi myth. Good fun!

Really, Barcelona are fine and Messi is not underpowered. He gets World Player of the Year every single year until he is in his 30s whilst Barcelona dominate everything! They won the Champions League 5 times in a row on my Brisbane save!

It's fine guys, and if you're complaining I think you're just deluded by how good you think they are.

Also, the Messi myth is exactly that, a myth. People say things like: "The database guy for Barcelona says he had to underpower him". First of all, Messi's CA/PA is not 200/200, I know that at least, and secondly he is by far the best player on the planet in the game, if he were any better it would just be silly. He arguably isn't that good in real life. But anyhow, enjoy...

He's arguably not that good irl either? Wow total ignorance, its already been brought up in the data forum that messi is limited by the CA/PA system and that the barca researcher had to make sacrifices in terms of some of his attributes. Having said that i think the barca researcher has done a wonderful job of making Messi the dominant force he is irl and the only real issue with barca in fm is that they can't play their usual style because of the limits of the match engine.

The barca researcher wouldn't give him a 200 CA/PA because to many people its still arguable whether he can be considered the best player ever so by that reasoning he may feel obliged to make his CA slightly below the limits, increasing his CA to 200 would have very minimal effects anyway because he's already so close to that.

Ahh... Fanboys and the Messi myth. Good fun!

He arguably isn't that good in real life. But anyhow, enjoy...

Yeah you're right he's not that good at all!

Last week I watched him do the samba round arguably some of the best defensive players on the planet, tied arguably with the best manager in the world who is known for his "hard to break down" defences.

i think somone should email this thread to the Barca researcher and get him commenting on this!

Creative editing of my post. Let's see what I can get from your's:

Yeah you're right he's not that good!

Last week I watched him do some of the best defensive players on the planet, with the best manager in the world who is known for his "hard" defences.

Hmmm... Very innapropriate post there! You should keep those kind of thoughts to yourself mate!

Anyhow, in context my post read:

Also, the Messi myth is exactly that, a myth. People say things like: "The database guy for Barcelona says he had to underpower him". First of all, Messi's CA/PA is not 200/200, I know that at least, and secondly he is by far the best player on the planet in the game, if he were any better it would just be silly. He arguably isn't that good in real life. But anyhow, enjoy...

So there we go, it reads that he isn't so good that he would win World Player of the year every year without question into his 30s. But hey, creative editing and strawman arguments are all the rage around here this week.

Anyhow, back to the point, the database producers do love Messi, probably a bit too much and the fact that he is clearly the best player on the planet by a fair ol' distance is probably even a bit much. It's definitely far from the Messi Myth where they can't even make him as good as they feel he should be.

But hey, fanboys will be fanboys... I guess in your World Barcelona would win every match without question by at least 5 goals and Messi would score at a rate of a hattrick per match.

Find me another player in the world right now that can get 52 goals and 24 assists in 51 appearences and then we'll discuss whether or not messi's by far the best player in the world right now.

Find me another player in the world right now that can get 52 goals and 24 assists in 51 appearences and then we'll discuss whether or not messi's by far the best player in the world right now.

Ooops... I forgot that there's only one role in a football team and that goals and assists are all that matter. Also, re-read my last two posts again, you seem to have yet again missed the point. This is getting comical guys, come on! I mean really, if you can post on a forum you should be able to read.

Ooops... I forgot that there's only one role in a football team and that goals and assists are all that matter. Also, re-read my last two posts again, you seem to have yet again missed the point. This is getting comical guys, come on! I mean really, if you can post on a forum you should be able to read.

What is your point? That because Messi continuously won player of the year in one save from one poster on this forum he is instantly too good? That anyone that doesn't agree with you is instantly labelled a fanboy? The fact that Messi's only 23 and no one knows whether he will continue to win the world player of the year but fm's a simulation and you save has provided one potential future which is changed by many factors based on the real world of football but because you don't think its feasible its instantly ludicrous that one factor such as messi's rating must be ridiculous?

Ypu haven't even tried to take on any other opinions before forcing your opinion down the throat of other people, don't label people who don't agree with your opinion fanboys and then expect GD to be a great place for people to post.

What is your point? That because Messi continuously won player of the year in one save from one poster on this forum he is instantly too good? That anyone that doesn't agree with you is instantly labelled a fanboy? The fact that Messi's only 23 and no one knows whether he will continue to win the world player of the year but fm's a simulation and you save has provided one potential future which is changed by many factors based on the real world of football but because you don't think its feasible its instantly ludicrous that one factor such as messi's rating must be ridiculous?

Ypu haven't even tried to take on any other opinions before forcing your opinion down the throat of other people, don't label people who don't agree with your opinion fanboys and then expect GD to be a great place for people to post.

My 3 saves in this version, 2 in the previous and 3 in the one before that all paint the same picture. Messi will invariably win World Player of the year every time until he is at least 30 and past that it depends on injuries. That shows that he cannot be underated as the best player in the World, because by definition the game rates him as such.

Now, back to you missing the point. The point wasn't that he wasn't the best player in the World, but not good enough to warrent the game structure being changed to allow him to be even more Godly. That is, more Godly than being unquestionably the best player in this version of FM. The question isn't whether he will win World Player of the year over and over again, but what do you want them to improve if he already does? He already does by the way.

So its not one save from one poster as I have had far more than one save and this has been reported by more than one poster.

Also, I never said that he was overpowered, I said it he arguably isn't that good, there is a key difference there. You lot are the ones who are seemingly calling for him to be even better than he currently is.

Also, you didn't respond to most of the points I posted and yet you're saying:

Ypu haven't even tried to take on any other opinions before forcing your opinion down the throat of other people, don't label people who don't agree with your opinion fanboys and then expect GD to be a great place for people to post.

What a joke!

Creative editing of my post. Let's see what I can get from your's:

Hmmm... Very innapropriate post there! You should keep those kind of thoughts to yourself mate!

Anyhow, in context my post read:

So there we go, it reads that he isn't so good that he would win World Player of the year every year without question into his 30s. But hey, creative editing and strawman arguments are all the rage around here this week.

Anyhow, back to the point, the database producers do love Messi, probably a bit too much and the fact that he is clearly the best player on the planet by a fair ol' distance is probably even a bit much. It's definitely far from the Messi Myth where they can't even make him as good as they feel he should be.

But hey, fanboys will be fanboys... I guess in your World Barcelona would win every match without question by at least 5 goals and Messi would score at a rate of a hattrick per match.

To be perfectly honest I only meant to include the last part as I felt it was wrong. Thought I had deleted it all, it wasn't supposed to be 'creative editing.'

I'm not a Barcelona Fanboy and I think they are rated fairly in the game and I think Messi's stats are fine, but to say he isn't that good anyway is ludicrous. He tortured Arsenal last season and this season to an extent in the second leg. He clearly outshone Ronaldo in the final when he was at Man Utd, scoring the header, won the Ballon D'or again, on 52 goals this season currently and there's still 5 games left of their season if they go through tonight.

My 3 saves in this version, 2 in the previous and 3 in the one before that all paint the same picture. Messi will invariably win World Player of the year every time until he is at least 30 and past that it depends on injuries. That shows that he cannot be underated as the best player in the World, because by definition the game rates him as such.

Now, back to you missing the point. The point wasn't that he wasn't the best player in the World, but not good enough to warrent the game structure being changed to allow him to be even more Godly. That is, more Godly than being unquestionably the best player in this version of FM. The question isn't whether he will win World Player of the year over and over again, but what do you want them to improve if he already does? He already does by the way.

So its not one save from one poster as I have had far more than one save and this has been reported by more than one poster.

Also, I never said that he was overpowered, I said it he arguably isn't that good, there is a key difference there. You lot are the ones who are seemingly calling for him to be even better than he currently is.

Also, you didn't respond to most of the points I posted and yet you're saying:

What a joke!

i never said that he was underpowered i pulled you up for saying he's arguably not that good. You're talking about him winning the world player of the year all the time like it happens for everyone, sure many posters may have seen this in their saves as it is one possibility, he's clearly the best player in the world at the start of the game because he's clearly the best player in the world right now. So its not unreasonable to think he may win it multiple times in the near future. One possibility that i think fm fails to realise is that he may burn out at an age that would otherwise be considered his peak and so he may not continue to win the award over and over but he might still do so.

If you actually read my first post i said even though the current systme means rating for some of his attributes are limited i still think the barca researcher did a good job of reflecting the real life messi because his performances in the game still mean he's the best player around. Therefore a reasonable person could assume i was against any change to the games system or current ratings just to make him better but i suppose you were to busy labelling people fanboys and being a hypocrite to be interested in a discussion.

The last post I read before opening this thread finished with this:

I always seem to have a knack of getting one over Real Madrid and Mourinho, but I've yet to play Barcelona. Quite daunting, as they've been stuffing teams for fun, winning their opening three games 7-0, 4-0 and 5-1.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/263922-TT-amp-F-and-Such-Like

doesn't seem to bear out the OP's claim.

To be perfectly honest I only meant to include the last part as I felt it was wrong. Thought I had deleted it all, it wasn't supposed to be 'creative editing.'

I'm not a Barcelona Fanboy and I think they are rated fairly in the game and I think Messi's stats are fine, but to say he isn't that good anyway is ludicrous. He tortured Arsenal last season and this season to an extent in the second leg. He clearly outshone Ronaldo in the final when he was at Man Utd, scoring the header, won the Ballon D'or again, on 52 goals this season currently and there's still 5 games left of their season if they go through tonight.

i never said that he was underpowered i pulled you up for saying he's arguably not that good. You're talking about him winning the world player of the year all the time like it happens for everyone, sure many posters may have seen this in their saves as it is one possibility, he's clearly the best player in the world at the start of the game because he's clearly the best player in the world right now. So its not unreasonable to think he may win it multiple times in the near future. One possibility that i think fm fails to realise is that he may burn out at an age that would otherwise be considered his peak and so he may not continue to win the award over and over but he might still do so.

If you actually read my first post i said even though the current systme means rating for some of his attributes are limited i still think the barca researcher did a good job of reflecting the real life messi because his performances in the game still mean he's the best player around. Therefore a reasonable person could assume i was against any change to the games system or current ratings just to make him better but i suppose you were to busy labelling people fanboys and being a hypocrite to be interested in a discussion.

Hmmm... I think there is some misunderstanding here, though both posts here clear a whole lot up. Let's start with:

But hey, fanboys will be fanboys... I guess in your World Barcelona would win every match without question by at least 5 goals and Messi would score at a rate of a hattrick per match.

This comment made you think I called you a fanboy. If you re-read it you'll notice I was saying that if someone wanted to make Barcelona and Messi any better they'd have to be a fanboy. Anyhow, second up is this couple of lines:

Also, the Messi myth is exactly that, a myth. People say things like: "The database guy for Barcelona says he had to underpower him". First of all, Messi's CA/PA is not 200/200, I know that at least, and secondly he is by far the best player on the planet in the game, if he were any better it would just be silly. He arguably isn't that good in real life. But anyhow, enjoy...

What I meant there was that Messi was arguably not worth a CA/PA of 200/200 and by extension not worth changing the system for him. I didn't say he's a crap player which seems to be what you took from that. I could post something along the lines of; "You see, there's this thing called a paragraph right..." and insult you for no particularly good reason, but I'll rather just say what I've said before. He's not good enough that he warrents giving him a better rating. This is clear from the performances of the in game Messi who is already by far the best player in the World. He scores less goals only because he's played in strange ways by the AI managers.

Hope that clarifies the point.

Their power level is over 9000!

In all seriousness though Barcelona struggle in the game against physical & direct sides more than they do against sides playing a passing game. If you go into a match with Barcelona trying to outplay them you'll look very silly. Inter Milan have shown how you can nullify a large portion of Barcelona's threat recently, Real Madrid were doing a good job of it until losing a man. Play two solid banks of 4 and let Barcelona pass it sideways & backwards all they want and they struggle to go anywhere. The tactic relies on either finding a tiny amount of space to work with, or hitting you on the counter. How Messi, Iniesta and co would stand up to the crunching tackles of the likes of Samba, Shawcross etc players they're unlikely to come up against would be interesting.

Hmmm... I think there is some misunderstanding here, though both posts here clear a whole lot up. Let's start with:

This comment made you think I called you a fanboy. If you re-read it you'll notice I was saying that if someone wanted to make Barcelona and Messi any better they'd have to be a fanboy. Anyhow, second up is this couple of lines:

What I meant there was that Messi was arguably not worth a CA/PA of 200/200 and by extension not worth changing the system for him. I didn't say he's a crap player which seems to be what you took from that. I could post something along the lines of; "You see, there's this thing called a paragraph right..." and insult you for no particularly good reason, but I'll rather just say what I've said before. He's not good enough that he warrents giving him a better rating. This is clear from the performances of the in game Messi who is already by far the best player in the World. He scores less goals only because he's played in strange ways by the AI managers.

Hope that clarifies the point.

if you're referring to me i never thought that you called me a fanboy except that its a pointless term thrown about by people who are trying to ridicule people who don't agree with their opinion. Changing messi's rating from what it is to 200 ca would make very little difference as it is. It appears as though the point your making is similar to mine you just went about it ina derogatory way.

I'm currently managing Real Zaragoza and currently bottom of the league. I have just went to the Camp Nou and the stats were not pretty reading for my team.

Result

Barcelona 4-0 Zaragoza

Shots 28-4

Possession 85-15

Fouls 12-31

Yellow Cards 4-7

Red Cards 0-0

Seems rather realistic to me. I also had Messi score by dancing round my midfield and defence (despite having mark often, kick often and hard etc set)

Their power level is over 9000!

In all seriousness though Barcelona struggle in the game against physical & direct sides more than they do against sides playing a passing game. If you go into a match with Barcelona trying to outplay them you'll look very silly. Inter Milan have shown how you can nullify a large portion of Barcelona's threat recently, Real Madrid were doing a good job of it until losing a man. Play two solid banks of 4 and let Barcelona pass it sideways & backwards all they want and they struggle to go anywhere. The tactic relies on either finding a tiny amount of space to work with, or hitting you on the counter. How Messi, Iniesta and co would stand up to the crunching tackles of the likes of Samba, Shawcross etc players they're unlikely to come up against would be interesting.

Real Madrid also grew their grass - there is no option in the game to do this as far as I can see.

Hmm...maybe it's different when playing in Spain. I haven't had a save in Spain yet. But the Barcelona in my FM is not that dominant. They win, yes, but not in the fashion I see IRL. They don't score as many goals, they concede too many, and their ball possession is not that impressive. Playing against them is not even that difficult. No more difficult than other top sides, when IRL, Barcelona walk into any tie as favourites. Hell, they can't even give me a good game or a good headache!

I want to play against Barcelona and know that I will be up against the biggest test there is. I just want more satisfaction from beating them. Right now beating them is not that great an achievement.

The only thing they need to do with Messi is to give him 20 Agility, 20 Balance. Because if he hasn't got that, who on earth would!? also, 19 in acceleration is a must.

Even though Barcelona are dominant in my save, I can see where the OP comes from. They are barely winning games against far inferior sides, and haven’t got the touch for goal that they have IRL. I had a look at a few of their recent games (in my current save) and they barely dominate the possession. But as long as they keep winning titles, I can’t really complain.

well in my save Messi won the Golden ball for 6 years running, hardly underrated. Ive seen that banded about on here before, "he has to be underrated because of the CA system", but its nonsense, he is easily the best player in the world in the game, its arguable if he is as good as the game makes out, but only time will really tell. I cant see where people think he could be improved stat wise. I managed Barca for two seasons in the game after 6 years in Italy and Messi scored 97 league goals in those two seasons, again hardly an underrated player in the game.

Methinks some folks are just after an easier route to Miles's 140 goals in a season challenge. Point 1) It's already been done and Point 2) Miles is talking about the DB as is, not as you'd want it to be.

BTW Barcelona IRL have won the Spanish League for the last two years only (yes I know they are going to win it again - but let's go with history here), prior to that Real won it two years in a row, Barcelona again for the two before that and then Real and Valencia alternated for the four years before that. So what I'm saying is whoever is strongest now isn't, in all likelihood, going to maintain it's superiority going forward (not saying that that's not possible, just that it's not likely) and it would be wrong of FM to set any side in any league up so that it was certain of maintianing it's dominant position over time as it's a simulation and life's not like that.

Methinks some folks are just after an easier route to Miles's 140 goals in a season challenge. Point 1) It's already been done and Point 2) Miles is talking about the DB as is, not as you'd want it to be.

BTW Barcelona IRL have won the Spanish League for the last two years only (yes I know they are going to win it again - but let's go with history here), prior to that Real won it two years in a row, Barcelona again for the two before that and then Real and Valencia alternated for the four years before that. So what I'm saying is whoever is strongest now isn't, in all likelihood, going to maintain it's superiority going forward (not saying that that's not possible, just that it's not likely) and it would be wrong of FM to set any side in any league up so that it was certain of maintianing it's dominant position over time as it's a simulation and life's not like that.

Actually the researchers work on the premise that the team that was excellent last season will be excellent for this season so is rated such, and the team that was ***** last season will be ***** this season too... It is set-up so the better sides are better than those not so good are well not so good.

what a pathetic thread, all the bugs and so that need fixing, you lot want barcelona better? the fact is fm is NOT realistic, it isnt real life (i.e samba and vidic scoring over 30+ back post goals from you cheaters who use the bug and say it isnt a bug) these things like barca being unbeatable need to be put in future fm games when fm cant think of main areas to improve.

My last match against Barcelona with my mid table Malaga side...

Barcelona 6-2 Malaga

Shots: 19-6

On Target: 13-3

Possession: 54-46

Fouls: 10-15

Only thing Barca are underpowered in my save is that the possession stat was very low. I've played them four times and had 45-47% possession in each game.

No need for this thread to turn into petty arguments so watch it or it will be closed, the term fanboy is extremely annoying.

I think Barcelona are fine as they are. Messi won world player of the year 10 times in 11 years on one of my saves. I would link the thread but it's awkward to do on my phone.

That's not the point. I agree they are very much beatable. However, it doesn't take away from how dominant they have been IRL, and this is not reflected in FM.

How have they been dominant in RL? They have only won the UCL twice since 2000 and 3 times overall.

Why do people keep using the world player of the year argument? The award is based on reputation, not statistics. I don't really mind whether Barca and Messi are underrated. I just want to see them play more similarly to real life, as in dominating possession at 60-70% and making hundreds of passes for most games.

Why do people keep using the world player of the year argument? The award is based on reputation, not statistics. I don't really mind whether Barca and Messi are underrated. I just want to see them play more similarly to real life, as in dominating possession at 60-70% and making hundreds of passes for most games.

This is what I mean!!!

I want Barcelona to be better represented in FM. I want to go to Barcelona knowing that they will dominate possession and win the ball back very quickly, and that I have to find ways to counter that. Right now, I have more of the ball than Barcelona!

What's worse, when you play against Barcelona, the AI acts very unrealistic by changing to 4-4-2 and even 5-2-3 formations! I just want Barcelona to play more like it's RL counterparts.

From what I've seen in most games Barca are very, very good. They destroy most teams, and I find them very tricky to play against.

The only difference I can really see between RL Barca and FM Barca are the bad things. They dont dive nearly as much as they should. This has a massive impact of the possesion stats, one of the reasons Barca retain the ball so well is when they do occasionally lose it they are very good at conning a freekick to ensure the turnover comes to nothing.

Secondly, your players actually have to commit red card fouls to get sent off. The refs do make mistakes in FM, but not consistantly in Barca's favour.

I guess the only thing is the passes, but I'll be honest in saying I havent actuallly checked the exact numbers for Barca players that often and admit the few times I have they havent been represented in game. I know when I play similar styles I often dont have anywhere near the passes you'd expect but then I usually play at a low tempo, whereas Barca's is high.

But to be fair... the IRL Barcalona team is a total freak of nature. Arsenal probably play the closest football to them, and even of a really good day I dont think we get close to the number of passes they play. I'm not sure its worth massively changing the engine to ensure one team plays more true to life.

I'm not at home right now so I can't check but I seem to remember that Guardiola's attributes in the db are not extreme enough and that could be a probably cause for the problem described by the OP.

As far as im concerned messi is the best player in the world. without him barcelona would not be barcelona. they play in a way to give him as much creative freedom he could get. he is their game changer. without him i dont think they would be the threat they are with him. tbh when someone says barcalona most peoples first thought is messi. i feel the current in game messi is as good as he can be under the current ca/pa system.

off point he is the only reason i watch them, i cant stand their diving and play acting and rolling around on the floor. not enjoyable to watch in the slightest. not looking forward to the champions league final if that is whats to come.

As far as im concerned messi is the best player in the world. without him barcelona would not be barcelona. they play in a way to give him as much creative freedom he could get. he is their game changer. without him i dont think they would be the threat they are with him. tbh when someone says barcalona most peoples first thought is messi. i feel the current in game messi is as good as he can be under the current ca/pa system.

off point he is the only reason i watch them, i cant stand their diving and play acting and rolling around on the floor. not enjoyable to watch in the slightest. not looking forward to the champions league final if that is whats to come.

Secondly, your players actually have to commit red card fouls to get sent off. The refs do make mistakes in FM, but not consistantly in Barca's favour.

It's much more likely if you play in the champions league knock-out rounds.

I'm not at home right now so I can't check but I seem to remember that Guardiola's attributes in the db are not extreme enough and that could be a probably cause for the problem described by the OP.

But in real life is it Barcelona players or Guardiola that make the team.

The biggest area they are underpowered in is their staff. The Barcelona staff is rubbish compared to other top teams.

off point he is the only reason i watch them, i cant stand their diving and play acting and rolling around on the floor. not enjoyable to watch in the slightest. not looking forward to the champions league final if that is whats to come.

Need to watch more Sunday league. It is the only true football that you are looking for... and better value for money too

does anyone take into consideration the proverbial 'rise and fall' of ronaldinho ..in terms of arguingmessis longetivity in excellence

The reason Barcelona is "underpowered" is because psychological modifiers and team talks are "overpowered." It's the same reason why things like complacency make 3rd tier teams in domestic cups tougher than 1st tier teams in the Champions League.

It's just the same "Football Psychologist 2011" problem that has been annoying people since release.

that makes no sense, the AI will do team talks just as the human player does, Pep has very good in game man managment and motivating attributes so there is little chance of the AI Pep getting them wrong.

The thing is Barca have only played this way for the past 3-4 years, if that, i cant see it lasting forever, the likes of Xavi and Iniesta are getting older, and at the moment i cannot think of many players able to fill their shoes, will they be able to continue this game without them in the team? Even now without them they struggle to be half as effective.

I don't see why not. It used to be Guardiola, then Xavi succeeded him, and Iniesta followed. I have no doubt that Barca will produce another brilliant midfield playmaker.

I don't see why not. It used to be Guardiola, then Xavi succeeded him, and Iniesta followed. I have no doubt that Barca will produce another brilliant midfield playmaker.

Or buy Fabregas this summer.